luv2kroooz

31 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Many of us couldn't care less about the pool deck. 

IMHO, it's a waste of space.

Do you consider yourselves to be one of the "contemporary cruisers"? That word gets thrown around a lot but is undefined. My understanding is that NCL is a mass market line, catering to middle income families. 

1 minute ago, Firstin87 said:

We are on the Jade in Feb. and were originally going to St. Croix - a unique port we haven't been to since our honeymoon 37 years ago and a key reason we booked (and I know it could be cancelled for weather, etc., so was prepared for that possibility).  After final payment, surprise - St. Croix was cancelled, replaced by a sea day, and they blamed their environmental program.  Makes no sense since they would use less fuel docked for a day than they will at sea.  Plus, if that was the 'real' reason, NCL knew about it well before final payment was due.

 

I'm getting a bit frustrated with this 'bait and switch' for phony reasons. 

Yeah, sorry to hear about this. They certainly did know about it before final payment.  I have never been to St Croix.

I don't know, my thought was they want to sail at slower speeds to burn less fuel as opposed to sailing at faster speed which burns more fuel. Who knows.  Notwithstanding, the time for planning efficient itineraries is BEFORE you advertise them and BEFORE you take your client's money.  That ship has sailed!

The Jade is a wonderful ship and I hope you have a good time!

9 minutes ago, Panhandle Couple said:

Why did you resurrect a year old thread instead of starting a new one?

Same topic, different year.

2 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Let me guess...you received this after final payment. 

Full disclosure..I copied this from a different thread about the same topic. Thankfully, we are not impacted. However, yes, this change was made after final payment.

Our last cruise had four adjustments after final payment. Mostly minor, but still.

1 hour ago, zqvol said:

If you don’t like how NCL operates there are lots of other cruise lines that will take your business

Profound.

Here is another example for a March 2024. What an appropriate time to resurrect this thread with the ongoing, recurring issue. In fairness, this itinerary looks to gain a port.

We support green initiatives. However, the time for changing this itinerary for green initiatives came and went many many months ago. It is disruptive and inconveniences passengers who are trying to plan for their cruise vacation.

4 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Getaway has one pool. The Deck 15 (Lido) pool. There are no other options, except hot tubs. Sure the Haven has a pool, but it isn't for the masses. 

Oh, when I was on it, there was a second pool underneath the waterslides, primarily for kids, but we were on a long cruise so no kids and it became the overflow adult pool!! Many liked it because it wasn't 7 ft deep, lol. Maybe it has been removed. It was pre Corona time. We like Getaway!!

4 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

It's not a design flaw of just Pr1ma and V!va. It's a design flaw on Getaway and Joy, and probably other ships that I haven't sailed on. But anyway....at least P1ma and V!va have two additional pools to go to on deck 8. That's a plus! 

Only a plus if people want to use the 2 pools on Deck 8, where capacity might be 20 people per pool. My observation is the design flaw is much more pronounced on Pr!ma and V!va. Getaway has an extra pool up on Lido.

14 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

It's generally been this mass of people in various stages of some times beautiful, but most times cringe worthy bathing attire.

BINGO......you've correctly identified one of the design flaws with Prima and Viva.... A mass of people trying to use a main pool and deck that are significantly undersized. Demand far exceeds supply making for a poor pool experience and then that same mass of people leaving unfavorable reviews about the ship after their vacation.

1 minute ago, Smitheroo said:

I meant they werent encouraging additional tipping. I didnt mean the DSC.   

Gotcha and I agree.

It is all the same in my world. They can call it whatever they want to.

1 minute ago, Smitheroo said:

when there are up to 6 people appearing at your table at one meal I would say that NCL is not encouraging tipping.   

Not sure I follow, NCL has had the highest gratuity charge in the industry, $20, since Corona time. Holland America just raised theirs yesterday to $17. At the end of the day, to tip or not tip is a personal choice. Whatever you are good with, I am too. Cheers.

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

That’s the way I view it, too!  I’ve been cruising since the ‘80s.  Cruise ship pools were never big, and always crowded.  

 

If you want a pool vacay, Sandals would be more to your liking!

Totally agree. Yet, I haven't met anyone who cruises solely to use a swimming pool.

Agree with respect to size of pools on Prima and Viva....not big, always crowded.

Might be better to select a cruise ship with a functionally designed Lido deck, such as Jewel class on NCL or Grand class on Princess. MSC has some inviting pools, too.

Decent food USDA inspected on cruises. Galley generally cleaner than restaurants at home or in Punta Cana. 

Lots to consider.

56 minutes ago, Sherilly said:

I'm wondering if this is a NCL thing?

Yes, NCL changes itineraries after final payment date has passed. It is usually disguised by cryptic reasons, like port congestion, environmental initiatives, operational reasons. And they set you up by telling you how much they are looking forward to welcoming you onboard, they work hard to deliver vacation experiences, and other word salad. Your experience mirrors ours....we have experienced emergency itinerary changes for weather or medical reasons on other lines. Yet, over and above, NCL seems to have an above average of last minute itinerary changes. Celebrity has also been recently in the news in a negative way regarding itinerary changes.

4 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

IOW, unless you're a mind reader, there's no viable way of knowing whether something given is a tip or a bribe.  Which means there's no reason to accuse anyone of bribery.

In this case, I can't help you. The question you asked has been answered.

2 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

 

I'm always open to learning new things.  Please answer the questions I posed.

Question was answered previously. By way of reminder, "That can only be determined by the person's intention. If you give it in appreciation for prior service, tip. If it is given with the hope of receiving something in the future, bribe."

2 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

If that's important to you, I would look for itineraries that offer ports with beaches and access to waters for water activities.  I would not look to any cruise line for water activities.  They offer them.  They just aren't the best choice.

Agreed on that. We've done many of the Caribbean beaches. We spend most Caribbean port days onboard enjoying the quieter ship and beverages, which is why a functional Lido deck and swimming pool is so important to us.

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

Cruise line pools are small.  They're most like wading pools.

Some cruise line pools are like small wading pools. However, many ships ( including some NCL ships) have multiple, large pools, as deep as 6-8 ft. So large, that we often see passengers swimming laps in the early AM or organized pool games, like Volleyball, being conducted as part of the daily programme. They certainly aren't Olympic sized, but I wouldn't use the words wading pools to describe them.

21 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

Oh please. Show me one post where someone described the pool deck on a Jewel class ship as being "spacious" or with "plenty of deck chairs". 🙄

See my post above.

38 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

This is one view of Viva during a sail-away.  I wish I had a similar picture of deck 17 but I assure you there were far more people on 17 than down on 8.  Warm weather cruise, if the demographic preferred 8, I'd expect to see a lot more people down there.

Thanks for posting this. Seating for a hundred with a pool capacity of 15. Hope you don't want to take in the sun. It's probably blocked by the 200 foot ship structure 10 feet behind you. Nice privacy for the balconies, too, as passengers can look right up.....brilliant.

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

People still like to compare the Viva to the Escape

Some compare Viva to Jewel class and it fails miserably on multiple fronts.....🥱🥱

10 hours ago, SeaShark said:

 

Ah yes, the "bigger pool" advocates. They are my favorite. Right up there with the "more deck chairs" crowd.

 

What they always gloss over is that the bigger pool means less room for deck chairs, and more deck chairs means less room for a pool.

 

Not to mention that they (apparently) ignore the free surface effect.

A pool deck like the Jewel class.

Functional with multiple pools, spacious, and plenty of deck chairs for all who may want them.

5 hours ago, TW6cruiser said:

Hi, are the TV's in the cabins mounted on the wall, or up on the high shelf? We just got back from Carribean Princess and don't mind some of the older ships but the tv up on the shelf was annoying. 

This could vary based on room layout. We had a standard interior room. Ours was up on the high shelf. Our TV was huge compared to the size of the room.

1 minute ago, UKstages said:

 

more troubling than the fee - to me - is that audience participation is via your cell phone and it requires use of NCL's wonky internet. that's just a bad idea, even if the ship has starlink.

Oh geez didn't realize wonky internet usage was also required. Does it use up your limited minutes, too? Or do you just have to connect to the ships network?

14 minutes ago, UKstages said:

reviews of the prima for caribbean itineraries are far better than for its icelandic and norwegian journeys. there is a reason for that!

Your well thought out post makes a lot of sense to me. However, for Caribbean itineraries, there is but one small free pool with very little deck space on the main lido deck. There are two or three infinity pools somewhere on a lower deck. They look very, very small to me. 

We were on Emerald Princess in November which is similar in size to Prima...maybe a bit smaller. There were four freshwater pools....two were huge, one out in the back deck was smaller, and one by their spa was smaller. All free to use. We just found the layout of the Lido deck to be very smart. There was always a place to get a seat.

We liked the included Broadway shows a lot better. Kinda reminds us of Carnival...Hasbro the game show, Family Feud, etc. Carnival was free to play. My understanding is that you pay to play on NCL.